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where should I start adjusting on my BlackBird

I got a WBBB a while back and tried my first overnighter last night. I had to give up and move into the house at about 2:30 this morning. I just could not get comfortable on my side. If my feet are in the footbox and I lay on my back its great but on my side with my knees bent I had tension ridges running through the hammock.

My trees are about 16 ft. apart, and I had about a 30 to 35 degree angle on my whoopies.my ridgeline has been replaced with an adjustable.

I thought the long time Blackbird owners may be able to point me in the right direction for adjustments and save me a little trial and error. I plan to give it another shot tonight.

I got a WBBB a while back and tried my first overnighter last night. I had to give up and move into the house at about 2:30 this morning. I just could not get comfortable on my side. If my feet are in the footbox and I lay on my back its great but on my side with my knees bent I had tension ridges running through the hammock.

My trees are about 16 ft. apart, and I had about a 30 to 35 degree angle on my whoopies.my ridgeline has been replaced with an adjustable.

I thought the long time Blackbird owners may be able to point me in the right direction for adjustments and save me a little trial and error. I plan to give it another shot tonight.

Hi WT,
If you have the original RL measure it and reduce your adjustable RL by ~3"

I'd start with raising the foot end and keeping the suspension long at the head and short at the foot before I did anything else (including the adjustable SRL). I discovered that 8 to 10" higher is what it takes to make it work personally, YMMV, so don't be shy about experimenting.

Mark is the name and If there is more than one way to understand what I just said....I meant the good one.

wolf track, I dialed in my WBBB this weekend and (for me) finally got a great hang. I had my tress straps up about 6 to 10 inches above eye level (I'm 6'2") and raised my foot end about 6 to 10 inches higher than the head end. I slept like a rock until 8am when I usually get up at 5. Best of luck and let us know how it works out for you.

Hi WT,
If you have the original RL measure it and reduce your adjustable RL by ~3"

hth

I'll give that a try tonight.

Originally Posted by Law Dawg (ret)

I'd start with raising the foot end and keeping the suspension long at the head and short at the foot before I did anything else (including the adjustable SRL). I discovered that 8 to 10" higher is what it takes to make it work personally, YMMV, so don't be shy about experimenting.

Originally Posted by Syb

wolf track, I dialed in my WBBB this weekend and (for me) finally got a great hang. I had my tress straps up about 6 to 10 inches above eye level (I'm 6'2") and raised my foot end about 6 to 10 inches higher than the head end. I slept like a rock until 8am when I usually get up at 5. Best of luck and let us know how it works out for you.

I should have mentioned I have the foot end at 8 to 10 inches higher, same as my nx-150 otherwise I wake up scrunched up at the foot end. I'll try shortening the foot end and lengthening at the head.
it's a whole different animal than my Clark that's for sure.

I'd start with raising the foot end and keeping the suspension long at the head and short at the foot before I did anything else (including the adjustable SRL). I discovered that 8 to 10" higher is what it takes to make it work personally, YMMV, so don't be shy about experimenting.

For me, that foot end advice seems to be the most important approach with all my non-bridge hammocks(just the opposite with my bridge). IOW, if there is a problem, the most consistent way for me to solve it seems to be to raise the foot a bit more than wherever it is, even if I already started with the foot a bit higher. Sometimes I end up quite a bit higher on the foot end. But I think this may be an individual thing, depending on how your body weight is distributed. So, just experiment.

WT, You mention problems on your side with knees bent. With quite a few of my non-bridge hammocks, I have had real good luck with this(more or less):
In my HH or BB, if I want to lay on my right side, I get even more diagonal than normal, with my head up against the zipper side, legs drawn up(fetal). On my left side, I reverse this, with my head up close to the shelf side, and my feet near the zipper side. When I do this, a nice ridge forms that is actually to my advantage. It goes under my waist, acting like the pillow some folks like to put under their waist to prevent a "banana effect"/ twisted/torqued waist when side sleeping. This ridge fully supports my side for total comfort. It works spectacularly in my HH Safari which allows me to get almost 90* angle to the ridgeline. But I can still do this in my other hammocks with slightly less angle, still works good.

Another thing to play with: when you sit down in your BB, get a little closer to the shelf side than you have been doing. Not all the way over to the shelf of course, but further than naturally seems to happen if you just sit down with the zipper at mid thigh or knee level and no fabric folds under you. Just have your butt somewhat closer to the "wall/shelf" and see how that works.

Just play around with all of that, bet you will get it. But 1st raise the foot! Good luck!

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us....that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Romans 8:18,21-22

I'd start ....<snip>and keeping the suspension long at the head and short at the foot before I did anything else (including the adjustable SRL). <snip> YMMV, so don't be shy about experimenting.

Law Dawg is consistent in reporting what has worked for him, that longer line on the head side. That gives him a hammock that is longer as it appears to his legs and shorter as it presents itself to his head and shoulders.

Nobody else has gone so wild in deliberately setting up their hammocks off-center and dared to confess it. Why not? Is anybody moving in the other direction?

It took me awhile to watch and re-watch and re-watch Brandon's set up video before it finally penetrated the thick layer of bone to the tiny reptillian brain. That's how he sets up...well maybe not as high as some.

One other thing I have read here some like to put their head in the foot box (reverse the lay). Not a single clue of how to set that one up as original thinking is not my strong trend.

Mark is the name and If there is more than one way to understand what I just said....I meant the good one.

Law Dawg is consistent in reporting what has worked for him, that longer line on the head side. That gives him a hammock that is longer as it appears to his legs and shorter as it presents itself to his head and shoulders.

Nobody else has gone so wild in deliberately setting up their hammocks off-center and dared to confessed it. Why not? Is anybody moving in the other direction?

As per Law Dawg' tag line: All smilies implied.

I guess I should have confessed it long ago! Most every day, when using my Vario hammock stand, I resort to having the hammock attached as close as possible to the stand's foot end upright, and not as close to the head end ( reverse for my bridge).

Why? It is all about trying to have the foot end higher than the head end. Often, I can not get enough difference in the height of the 2 ends of the stand and still stay off the ground. Even with the foot end as high as it will go, I have to have the head end higher than desired to keep my butt off the ground. And ESPECIALLY with an HH Safari with it's huge space under the RL.

So, trying to get a little more head end tilt, I rig it with more cordage/webbing on the head end, and as little as possible on the foot. When I reverse this with my bridge it can be a problem, because with my head real close to the stand's upright, I might hit this upright once I am in and it sags and the stand flexes.

I don't really pay much attention to this in the woods, and just always approximate centering the hammock. Then I hang one end higher. And if that does not feel enough, then I just get out and raise that end a few inches higher, or maybe a few more. I guess one time more webbing on one end might be needed (in the woods) is when the trees are too far apart. And you are having trouble getting one end high enough in the trees.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us....that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
Romans 8:18,21-22

More sag has always helped me. I find the WBBB is most comfy for me when the ridge-line is just alittle floppy. I use a prussic through the suspension, to tighten the ridge-line, enabling it to keep the netting strung tightly.